Superintendent review leaves boards in limbo

Trustees in five systems await hiring approval from Eggen’s office

Some Alberta school trustees are questioning if they need a contingency plan as the contracts of potential new superintendents sit unsigned on the desk of the education minister.

One of five school boards in limbo is Leduc-based St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic school division, whose superintendent, Troy Davies, will leave the post April 2.

Although the board has gone through the process of recruiting a new superintendent, trustees are now looking for an acting superintendent while the paperwork sits unapproved, board chairwoman Michelle Lamer said in a short emailed statement Thursday.

On March 12, Education Minister David Eggen said he wouldn’t be approving any more superintendent contracts until his office completes a review of how public, Catholic, francophone and charter school superintendents are compensated.

An analysis of superintendent pay commissioned by the Alberta School Boards Association also prompted Eggen to say in February some salaries were “out of line” with public expectations, and he planned to rein them in.

No board will be without a senior leader during the review process, Eggen said in an email on Friday.

Eggen’s move has left St. Albert public school board chairwoman Kim Armstrong feeling“hamstrung ,” she said Thursday. Super intent end ent Barry Wowk is retiring in July. The board started recruiting a replacement last fall for its only employee and had sent paperwork to the minister for approval, Armstrong said.

“We want to make this transition smoothly, because this is huge to our culture,” she said. “Sure, we could figure out a bunch of Plan Bs. But when you do transition and succession planning, it’s not just about stop-gap measures.”

The minister needs to hear from school trustees about the unique situation of each board and the factors that influenced their decisions before putting restrictions on how the senior leaders are paid, she said. To do otherwise “flies in the face of local autonomy,” and leaves school trustees nervous about becoming obsolete.

Eggen said he will consult with individual superintendents, school trustees, and the College of Alberta School Superintendents during the review.

“At this time of fiscal restraint, I’m very concerned to see this kind of salary growth for top school administrators. I have respected the autonomy of locally elected school boards when it comes to negotiating the salaries of superintendents. But clearly something needs to change. We will be looking at ways to rein in salaries for top school board administrators,” he said.

The Edmonton Catholic school board is also attempting to renew its superintendent’s contract. Joan Carr and the board had agreed to a two-year extension to August 2020, but the minister has yet to sign the paperwork. Board chairman Terry Harris refused to comment on the contract or the superintendent compensation review process.

Peace Wapiti Schools’ superintendent Sheldon Rowe is also retiring in August. Board chairwoman Dana McIntosh said in a Thursday email she hopes to have a new superintendent contract signed by June to prepare for the next school year.

Livingstone Range school board chairman Brad Toone said his board has completed a search for a new superintendent after the former superintendent took a job in another division. An acting superintendent’s one-year contract is up at the end of August.

Eggen said he expects the compensation review to be completed “quickly,” but did not provide specifics.